Systems, methods, and media for notifying users of events on a remote control device

Abstract

Systems, methods, and media for notifying users of personal computer system events on a remote control device are disclosed. Some embodiments may comprise a remote control device associated with an electronic device having a computer system communications module to receive an indication of an occurrence of an event from a personal computer system and a processor to process the received indication of the event occurrence. Embodiments may further include a user interface having a user output device such as a display to notify a user of the event occurrence and a user input device to receive commands from a user for the electronic device. Further embodiments may also include a remote transmitter to transmit commands from the remote control device to the electronic device. Other embodiments may include a user input device to receive a response to the event occurrence from the user. Other embodiments are disclosed and claimed.

1 . A remote control device associated with an electronic device, comprising: 
 a computer system communications module to receive an indication of an occurrence of an event from a personal computer system;    a processor in communication with the computer system communications module to process the received indication of the event occurrence; and    a user interface in communication with the processor, the user interface comprising a user output device to notify a user of the event occurrence and a user input device to receive commands from a user for the electronic device.    
   
   
       2 . The remote control device of  claim 1 , further comprising a remote transmitter to transmit commands from the remote control device to the electronic device.  
   
   
       3 . The remote control device of  claim 2 , wherein the remote transmitter transmits commands to the electronic device by transmitting commands to a digital media adapter (DMA) coupled to the electronic device.  
   
   
       4 . The remote control device of  claim 2 , wherein the remote transmitter is an infrared (IR) transmitter.  
   
   
       5 . The remote control device of  claim 1 , wherein the computer system communications module comprises logic to transmit to the personal computer system an indication of a response received from a user.  
   
   
       6 . The remote control device of  claim 1 , wherein the computer system communications module receives transmissions via a radio frequency (RF) based wireless network.  
   
   
       7 . The remote control device of  claim 1 , wherein the computer system communications protocol receives transmissions via one or more of a point-to-point communication protocol, an infrared (IR) transmitter, or a network.  
   
   
       8 . The remote control device of  claim 1 , wherein the user output device comprises one or more of a display, an auditory device, or a vibratory device.  
   
   
       9 . The remote control device of  claim 1 , wherein the user input device comprises logic to receive a response to the event occurrence from the user.  
   
   
       10 . A method comprising: 
 receiving, from a personal computer system at a remote control device associated with an electronic device, an indication of an event occurrence at the personal computer system;    processing the indication of the event occurrence by the remote control device to generate a notification of the event occurrence; and    notifying by a user output device of the remote control device a user of the event occurrence.    
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising transmitting by the remote control device a command to an electronic device associated with the remote control device.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising: 
 receiving by the remote control device a request for notification of an event at the personal computer system; and    transmitting by the remote control device an indication of the notification request to the personal computer system.    
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising: 
 receiving by the remote control device a user response to the notification of the event occurrence; and    transmitting by the remote control device an indication of the user response to the personal computer system.    
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the event occurrence comprises one or more of the completion of a task, the availability of digital content, diagnostic results, advertising, the arrival of communications, alarms, notification of a system problem, notification of a network problem, or home security notifications.  
   
   
       15 . A machine-accessible medium containing instructions effective, when executing in a data processing system, to cause said data processing system to perform operations comprising: 
 receiving, from a personal computer system at a remote control device for an electronic device, an indication of an event occurrence at the personal computer system;    processing the indication of the event occurrence by a processor to generate a notification of the event occurrence; and    notifying by a user output device of the remote control device a user of the event occurrence.    
   
   
       16 . The machine-accessible medium of  claim 15 , further comprising transmitting by the remote control device a command to an electronic device associated with the remote control device.  
   
   
       17 . The machine-accessible medium of  claim 15 , further comprising: 
 receiving by the remote control device a request for notification of an event at the personal computer system; and    transmitting by the remote control device an indication of the notification request to the personal computer system.    
   
   
       18 . The machine-accessible medium of  claim 15 , further comprising: 
 receiving by the remote control device a user response to the notification of the event occurrence; and    transmitting by the remote control device an indication of the user response to the personal computer system.    
   
   
       19 . The machine-accessible medium of  claim 15 , wherein the event occurrence comprises one or more of the completion of a task, the availability of digital content, diagnostic results, advertising, the arrival of communications, alarms, notification of a system problem, notification of a network problem, or home security notifications.  
   
   
       20 . A method comprising: 
 receiving a request for notification of an occurrence of an event at a personal computer system;    detecting at the personal computer system the occurrence of the event; and    transmitting an indication of a notification of the occurrence of the event by the personal computer system to a remote control device associated with an electronic device.    
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising: 
 receiving by the personal computer system from the remote control device an indication of a user response to the notification; and    performing by the personal computer system a task based on the received user response.    
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising before transmitting the indication of the occurrence of the event, determining that a display of the personal computer system is unavailable.  
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 20 , receiving a request for notification of an occurrence of an event at a personal computer system comprises receiving the request from the remote control device.  
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein receiving a request for notification of an occurrence of an event at a personal computer system comprises receiving the request via a user input device of the personal computer system.  
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the event occurrence comprises one or more of the completion of a task, the availability of digital content, diagnostic results, advertising, the arrival of communications, alarms, notification of a system problem, notification of a network problem, or home security notifications.